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A rare pair of kauri gum busts depicting two remarkable Maori characters from early New Zealand history have surfaced at auction.

The carved Maori heads are being sold at auction in Auckland next week by an elderly Nelson region man who hopes the artefacts can be preserved in a museum.

The busts, which are at least a century old, feature high-ranking Ngati Porou chief, Tamati Tamaiwhakanehua and his granddaughter Princess Te Rangi Pai, also known as Fanny Howie, who penned the famous New Zealand lullaby, Hine E Hine.

Carving busts - and other crafts including jewellery - from fossilised resin extracted from kauri trees was a popular activity in the nineteenth century.